Boulder Roubaix 55+ race

Boulder Roubaix is our local attempt at riding a course that is not only difficult but demanding due to the condition of the roads used.  Yesterday the dirt roads were very kind, mostly hard packed, a little loose and of course if you missed the line your body was jarred and bike bounced in washboard ruts.

For those of us racing for Mix1 in the 55+ we came to the race wondering how hard it might be.  Several teams had multiple strong riders present, many of whom were cycle cross racers as well and our field was large, 51 on the start line.

Right from the gun Steve Birnbaum went to the front setting a hard tempo that soon had the line strung out.  Steve Matous was right on his wheel (you have to be named Steve to race in this category) and when the road went up for the first time took over on front and continued to push the pace.  As we turned onto Nelson and went downhill the Steve’s let up to have some other riders pull on front.  Heading north into the next dirt section a Boulder Masters rider was on front when Steve Matous again went right past him and starting to pick up the pace, soon after in the hilly section we caught the group that started 2 minutes in front of us, the 45+4’s.

There were some young and strong riders at the front of their group who tagged onto us as we headed east along St Vrain road swelling the size of the group to 25 or 30 racers.  Heading north on the dirt again Chris, Bill and Steve M all took turns on front and created a break.  With Bill yelling “go Steve go we have a break” Mix1 rode hard to Hygiene road,  but as so often happens in the Masters categories the other teams in the break did not want to work and once we stopped working on front it came back together. 

The rest of the first lap and second lap up until heading west on Nelson road was a repeat of Mix1 working on the front pushing the pace, passing the 45+4’s on the dirt, 45+4’s catching back on the pavement with an occasional rider from another team getting on front. Most noted Dan Grygier from CO Bike Law did a long pull setting a hard tempo on front.

We spoke to the 45+4’s trying to get them to not sit on our wheels and also with our fellow 55+ racers telling them not to sit on the 45+4’s wheels just to ride our own races, but did not get much cooperation.  It certainly helped those other teams who were not working on front when we sprinted for 3^rd place at the end.

Just at the turn back onto the final dirt section at 55^th and Nelson, Steve Crowley jumped and Bill got on his wheel.  Chris and Steve M did not chase and the group seemed not to care as Steve Crowley and Bill went ahead.  Now a group of 20 or so 45+4’s and maybe seven 55+ riders rode hard but did not chase as we headed into the final long straight to the finish.  As we approached 500 meters everything changed and it was game on!

The pace quickened and just when it seemed our group would catch up to Bill and Steve Crowley Bill turned around, saw us and sprinted to the finish.  His 6^th win of the Boulder Roubaix!

The final sprint with the 45+’4’s all over the road was bedlam!  Chris came in 4^th and Steve M grabbed 9^th both four seconds behind Bill.  Steven B finished 21^th after a great day, his racing on front in the first lap setting the team up for its individual and team wins.

Cobb Lake Circuit Race 45+ race report

The Colorado State University Cycling Team hosted the Cobb Lake Circuit Race in Fort Collins. The circuit was 8 miles in length featuring the finish at the top of a hill, dirt roads, and due to the complete lack of trees, full exposure to the wind which would all play factors in the outcome to the race.

The 45s, represented by Marcel van Garderen and Pete Lucke, had six laps facing them for the race. During the first two laps, Marcel set tempo on the dirt to soften up the field and kept an eye on Pete at other times to keep him in a good position and out of the wind. This allowed for Pete to make the winning five man break on the hill with four laps to go. The group of five worked well together until a lap to go when once again attacks occured on the hill. Pete was able to get away with another rider for the final lap. They held their 30 second advantage leading into the final dirt road. Pete was able to get away on a rise at the end of the dirt road and going into the final corner at the start of the finish line hill held onto a 10 second lead on his breakaway companion for the win and the first win of the season for the 45+ squad.

One mans race: Louisville 45+ crit from Adam Asnes

There's a special feeling when putting on race wheels for the first race of the year. When I put on those carbon tubulars, my bike loses about a pound and the hum and spring of the tires while warming up gets me psyched. There was a solid race turnout and evidently plenty of others were there happy to get started with the first Colorado Cup race of the year.

In the 45+ race, our team had Peter Ismert, Marcel van Garderen and myself representing the category, with Steve Birnbaum, Butch Stinton and Bill Kellegher joining us as there was no 55+ category for this event. Peter has the most race miles and conditioning, so we discussed taking advantage of that if the opportunity presented itself. The Louisville Crit course is not particularly challenging from a technical standpoint, but there is a gentle hill after the last corner, lasting for about 600 or 700 meters. That hill can start to wear on the racers' early season conditioning when it's crunch time, but this year, there was a bit of a tailwind pushing the race up the hill and somewhat lessening its effect. The race went along fairly predictably for the first 40 minutes, with a few breaks being brought back usually within a lap or two. Steve had a strong effort leading us up the hill for one lap bringing in one such break. Of note was one move from Charley Hays, Trek Bicycle Store and a Rally Sport rider that was away for several laps, but never quite out of site. Kudo's to those two for what was clearly a hard effort.

Crunch time was inevitable and the last few laps started heating up with everyone back together. Pete, Marcel and I were all near the front of the field, when I saw an attack from Rod Yoder of Natural Grocers near the top of the hill with 3 to go. I shouted to Pete to jump in it, which he promptly did. Marcel and I swarmed to the front and the break quickly got a gap. Natural Grocers, Boulder Orthopedics and Rally Sport also swarmed the front to slow things down as they were represented. It quickly looked like this was the break that would stick and much of the rest of the field was too tired to make a consistent effort to move through the blocking. With one to go, I poised myself, still near the front, expecting to sprint for leftovers. Mike Inglis, of Tokyo Joe's jumped the field early on the last lap backstretch downhill in what I (and apparently others) thought was way too far off from the finish. Then the unpredictable happened. Up in the break Peter accelerated aggressively through the last turn and skipped a pedal sending his bike into a violent lurch and slowing the entire break as they went into evasive action. Peter went from going for the win to on the side of the road with a damaged wheel. I'm told it was pretty remarkable he didn't get close and personal with the pavement. Marcel saw Peter on the side of the road, just as we cleared the last corner at the start of the uphill and took a ferocious jump out of the field. I had been sitting on Marcel's wheel thinking he knew I was there, but he jumped so hard that he cleared a quick 20 feet ahead. This actually ended up helping me as I now had a "rabbit" to accelerate toward and I started digging in to the sprint, knowing that it was going to be a long way to the line. A quick glance back and I saw a gap behind me. Mid-way up the rise, I was back to Marcel, and catching members of the break. I kept up the push but didn't realize one Natural Grocers rider, Eric Cheezum, had been sitting on my wheel the whole way. He easily jumped past me near the line for third, which was good positioning on his part. I ended up 4th, Marcel 6th. Mike Inglis, who had jumped earlier, ended up making it entirely through the break for the win, with Eric Ray, a RallySport rider who was in the break, holding on for second.

Louisville Crit 45+ race

Monika Bunting photo

Monika Bunting photo

 

Louisville Crit-March 31st

VIEW FROM THE 35+ FIELD
The 35 plus guys towed the line with 8 team mates today, which was a strong showing for March.  Our field was larger than expected, given the ACA's new rule to not allow cat 3 in our field, after they have been allowed for the last 30 years............  Ourselves and Boulder Orthopedic were the big teams and we tried to use our size to our advantage.  Jim Thies has been riding well, so our goal was to get him in the winning break.  As a result he sat in for the first half of the race to wait for the right move, as did Matt Gates, and Josh our lazy sprinter.  So the rest of the guys covered moved with CJ, LT, Lee, Segur, and Marc up there.  There was a lot of attacking int he first 20 minutes, but honestly nothing was that strong.  Most of the attacking was coming from the regular riders as some of the strong men held back.  Things got hot about 25 minutes in and the guys were all over the front.  Jim marked his man, Michael Gibson, and they got away in a 4 man move, during a time when the race was under pressure.  It was an interesting dynamic today as the wind was blowing up, and across the hill, which is much easier than normal.   During the race pressure 3 more guys got up to the lead group and that was the only mistake our guys made all day, in not getting a second rider up there.

As such the winning 7 man move was set and with the strong teams represented, it was not coming back. Unfortunately the Boulder Orthopedics team had 2 riders in the break, and they were able to better use Grant to do the work driving things, while saving Michael Gibson for the end.  Jim was well aware of this, so he made sure to use his energy wisely, and he put in a few late attacks.  None the less it came down to a 7 man sprint, which Michael won going away, as he is a very good sprinter.  Jim made a well timed move to come from further back as other guys died and lost a bike throw at the line for 2nd, but was happy to make the podium (3rd).

The rest of the guys let the Boulder Ortho guys do the blocking and we started to attack them.  LT got away with one other rider and set up a great launching pad for Matt Gates, who got away with 4 other guys to form the second group.  Matt dominated the sprint from this group at the end and looks to be on good form.  Back in the field it was a little wild as we went from 6 to go to 1 to go in a lap, but Josh, Lee an CJ contested the field sprint for around 12th, good practice for up coming races.

2 wins, 4 podiums for a strong weekend of racing!

Ore Digger Classic Lookout Mountain Hill Climb TT March 17

Lookout Mountain Hill Climb is an extremely popular ride that heads west straight out of Golden Colorado. This road is steeper than your typical canyon road with grades around 5-6% and gives the rider spectacular views back onto the Colorado Front Range including the Denver skyline. As an individual time trial course there is not much chance to enjoy the view until the race is over and you are coasting back down hill.  While never extremely steep the 4.4 mile course with 1228feet of elevation gain keeps your attention, your legs working and lungs breathing hard.

Saturday morning 260 racers participated in the junior, senior and masters categories in support of the collegiate race that began at noon.  Each collegiate team sponsors a race and the non-colligate races are a way for those teams to raise dollars in support of their racing programs. This makes these races a win for all cycling as well as a great way to test your early season fitness.

Mix1 masters cycling team had superb day with two wins, Matt Gates 35+ and Steve Matous 55+, and two more podiums, Bill Stalhuth 2^nd in 45+ and Matt Segur 3^rd in 35+. Matt Segur’s podium place was especially impressive as it was done with cracked ribs and road rash still present after an unfortunate crash in the Pro, 1, 2 race at the Stazio crit earlier in the month.  Stephen Birnbaum rounded out the Mix1 field and had an incredible finish, 14th out of 31 competitors, for one who is calls himself “vertically challenged”. All fields were very competitive as the hill climbers came out to test early season strength and resolve.

San Dimas stage race California and DU criterium City Park Colorado

Mix1 also had a team mate racing in California this weekend at the San Dimas stage race. Racing on his own without any other team support, Peter Ismert has battled well against the locals who are already months into their race season.  Although no podiums Peter did manage 14^th in the uphill TT and 9^th place in the circuit race which started with 62 racers and end with only 37 finishers.  You know it was a fast and hard fought race to have so many DNF’s.  The final criterium results from today were not yet posted as of this writing.

Another collegiate race sponsored by DU held a Pro, 1, 2 crit race today at City Park in Denver. Three Mix1 riders; CJ Gauss, Michael Burton and Jim Thies (all 35+ masters racers), went up against a strong field and howling wind making for a fast hard race and trying conditions.  At the end of the day Jim was our best placed finisher taking 8^th.

Peak to peak near Ward at 5PM 52 degs!

You know its time to get into the high country when it is still 52 degrees on the Peak to Peak near Ward at 5PM in March!  Some wind in the canyons leading up to the high country today but all in all a beautiful day to ride and enjoy the mountains.  Getting ready for the Lookout hill climb TT this weekend.  Its a fund raiser for the School of Mines cycling race team so get out there and continue to support the next generation of racers! Ore Digger classic @ http://www.coloradocycling.org/sites/default/files/Site_Files/Race_Flyers/2012/3-17%20Mines-Oredigger.pdf

Photos from Stazio Crit Pro 1,2 race

University of Colorado Criterium Masters race March 11

CU broke with tradition and lined up the masters for the last race of the day. This made for an interesting race as a lot of P,1,2 racers doubled up for the day as everyone considered this first mass start collegiate race as a training race day. As usual for a spring afternoon in Colorado, the winds picked up and made the race harder than one would expect. Two crosswinds, a headwind and the lone tailwind was on the hill where everyone felt like superman and crushed the pace. So, attacks were rampant, breakaways didn't last and the field dwindled with each lap. Lee Middlekauf, Adam Asnes, Marcel vanGarderen, and Pete Lucke were the sole representatives in the field as most of the masters team lined up for the P,1,2 race so that they could be home in time for dinner with their family. The guys did all that they could to make a winning break, but as the race came down to the last 15 minutes the winning break went with no mix1ers present. No one was disappointed as everyone came away with an excellent workout and gauged their fitness in time to be ready for the "real" season to begin in another 3 weeks. Hats off to the Boulder Orthopedics team that came out in full force, executed a well thought out plan, and their protected rider hid for the entire race and then not only made the winning break with his one attack, but won the race too.

Team training ride

Mix1 team ride Saturday March 12

Beautiful day for a team ride to Jamestown!  Hope you are all getting out and enjoying it as well! Many on the team will be racing tomorrow at Stazio criterium races.  Come out to race yourself and support the CU cycling team fund raiser or just to cheer on your friends and enjoy another nice day.